Palaeogeography of tropical seasonal coastal wetlands in northern Britain during the early Mississippian Romer's Gap

Millward, D.; Davies, Sarah J.; Brand, Peter; Browne, M. A. E.; Bennett, Carys E.; Kearsey, Timothy I.; Sherwin, Janet; Marshall, J.

doi:10.1017/s1755691018000737

Cited by 8 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…In the Borders, the development of these calcretes represents the complex interplay between local uplift associated with volcanic doming (Millward et al . 2019) and latest Famennian glacial drawdown. In East Greenland, this time interval is represented by the Stensiö Bjerg Formation (Astin et al .…”

Section: Whiteadder Water Prestonmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reinterpreting the age of the uppermost ‘Old Red Sandstone' and Early Carboniferous in Scotland

Marshall¹,

Reeves²,

Bennett

et al. 2018

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Socie

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In Scotland, the base of the Ballagan Formation has traditionally been placed at the first grey mudstone within a contiguous Late Devonian to Carboniferous succession. This convention places the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary within the Old Red Sandstone (ORS) Kinnesswood Formation. The consequences of this placement are that tetrapods from the Ballagan Formation were dated as late Tournaisian in age and that the ranges of typically Devonian fish found in the Kinnesswood Formation continued into the Carboniferous. The Pease Bay specimen of the fish Remigolepis is from the Kinnesswood Formation. Comparisons with its range in Greenland, calibrated against spores, show it was Famennian in age. Detailed palynological sampling at Burnmouth from the base of the Ballagan Formation proves that the early Tournaisian spore zones (VI and HD plus Cl 1) are present. The Schopfites species that occurs through most of the succession is Schopfites delicatus rather than Schopfites claviger. The latter species defines the late Tournaisian CM spore zone. The first spore assemblage that has been found in Upper ‘ORS' strata underlying the Ballagan Formation (Preston, Whiteadder Water), contains Retispora lepidophyta and is from the early latest Famennian LL spore zone. The spore samples are interbedded with volcaniclastic debris, which shows that the Kelso Volcanic Formation is, in part, early latest Famennian in age. These findings demonstrate that the Ballagan Formation includes most of the Tournaisian with the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary positioned close to the top of the Kinnesswood Formation. The Stage 6 calcrete at Pease Bay can be correlated to the equivalent section at Carham, showing that it represents a time gap equivalent to the latest Famennian glaciation(s). Importantly, some of the recently described Ballagan Formation tetrapods are older than previously dated and now fill the key early part of Romer's Gap.

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Section: Whiteadder Water Prestonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2002, 2004a, b) where range charts detail the occurrence of Schopfites claviger throughout the formation, including the Glenrothes, Birnieknowes and East Dron boreholes (e.g., Millward et al . 2019) where the succession continues down to the Kinnesswood Formation. At Burnmouth, S. claviger is reported (Scott et al .…”

Section: Historical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reinterpreting the age of the uppermost ‘Old Red Sandstone' and Early Carboniferous in Scotland

Marshall¹,

Reeves²,

Bennett

et al. 2018

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Socie

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“…The presence of ichnofauna, rare scolecodonts, orthocones, and evaporites (gypsum and anhydrite) within the Ballagan Formation provide evidence that the floodplain was subject to occasional marine water input (Bennett et al, 2016; Millward et al, 2018a, 2018b). The Chondrites in dolostones below Bed 383 has been interpreted as short-lived colonization of coastal lake sediments by opportunistic organisms that were transported from shallow marine environments during storm events (Bennett et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Devonian–Carboniferous boundary has been identified at the top of the Kinnesswood Formation near the base of the exposed succession (Millward et al, 2018a, 2018b; Marshall et al, in press) and the transition to the Viséan Fell Sandstones at its top. Its fossils have been little studied until recently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequently, from 2006, more regular collecting was undertaken with the late Stan Wood, and in 2012, a NERC-funded consortium project focusing on the Tournaisian Ballagan Formation of Scotland, known as the TW:eed Project (Tetrapod World: early evolution and diversification), began an intensive exploration of Burnmouth and other Tournaisian localities. Several papers relating to the Burnmouth sediments and associated Tournaisian and other Early Carboniferous sites have already resulted from this project (Bennett et al, 2016; Clack et al, 2016; Coates & Teitjen 2018; Kearsey et al, 2016; Smithson, Richards & Clack, 2015; Smithson et al, 2017; Chen et al, 2018; Clack, Porro & Bennett, 2018; Clark, Miller & Ross, 2018; Millward et al, 2018a, 2018b; Richards et al, 2018; Ross et al, 2018; Smithson & Clack, 2018; Marshall et al, in press).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Tournaisian (earliest Carboniferous) conglomerate-preserved non-marine faunal assemblage and its environmental and sedimentological context

Clack

Bennett

Davies

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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A conglomerate bed from the Tournaisian Ballagan Formation of Scotland preserves a rich array of vertebrate and other nonmarine fossils providing an insight into the wider ecosystem and paleoenvironment that existed during this pivotal stage of Earth history. It challenges hypotheses of a long-lasting post-extinction trough following the end-Devonian extinction event. The fauna recovered includes a wide size range of tetrapods, rhizodonts, and dipnoans, from tiny juveniles or small-bodied taxa up to large adults, and more than one taxon of each group is likely. Some fauna, such as actinopterygians and chondrichthyans, are rare as macrofauna but are better represented in the microfossil assemblage. The fauna provides evidence of the largest Carboniferous lungfish ever found. The specimens are preserved in a localized, poorly-sorted conglomerate which was deposited in the deepest part of a river channel, the youngest of a group of channels. In addition to the fossils (micro- and macro-), the conglomerate includes locally-derived clasts of paleosols and other distinctive elements of the surrounding floodplains. Charcoal fragments represent small woody axes and possible larger trunk tissue from arborescent pteridosperms. Preservation of the fossils indicates some aerial exposure prior to transport, with abrasion from rolling. The findings presented here contrast with other published trends in vertebrate size that are used to interpret a reduction in maximum sizes during the Tournaisian. The richness of the fauna runs counter to the assumption of a depauperate nonmarine fauna following the end-Devonian Hangenberg event, and charcoal content highlights the occurrence of fire, with the requisite levels of atmospheric oxygen during that stage.

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A terrestrial Devonian-Carboniferous boundary section in East Greenland

Marshall

2020

Palaeobio Palaeoenv

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Terrestrial Devonian-Carboniferous boundary sections are present in the East Greenland Devonian Basin. The boundary section on Stensiö Bjerg developed in deep, distal lake sediments with a pair of lakes representing the boundary. A diverse spore assemblage developed as the lake flooded the basin. Previously abundant spores, notably Retispora lepidophyta, Diducites spp., Rugospora radiata and all forms with bifurcate tips (Ancyrospora and Hystricosporites), then became extinct through just over a metre of section. The spore assemblage is then lost into AOM rich very high TOC% lake sediments. There is a negative δ13CTOC excursion in the Stensiö Bjerg section interpreted to represent the upper part of the positive excursion known from marine sections. The upper lake contains the simple VI spore assemblage of the earliest Carboniferous age. The correlative section on Rebild Bakker was developed in shallow proximal facies without AOM and shows that a Devonian-Carboniferous LN* to VI spore zone boundary can be picked in the lower lake based on the last occurrence of Retispora lepidophyta in an assemblage otherwise dominated by simple spores and Grandispora cornuta. Spores in this VI spore assemblage, particularly Grandispora cornuta, show sculpture malformation that is entirely characteristic of UV-B radiation damage to their DNA prior to deposition of its protective wall layer. This palynological record showing the rapid extinction of major elements within the Late Devonian microflora can be reconciled with accounts claiming there was no mass extinction of plants and spores across the boundary. The palaeobiology of the major spore groups that became extinct is reviewed.

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Palaeogeography of tropical seasonal coastal wetlands in northern Britain during the early Mississippian Romer's Gap

Cited by 8 publications

References 75 publications

Reinterpreting the age of the uppermost ‘Old Red Sandstone' and Early Carboniferous in Scotland

Reinterpreting the age of the uppermost ‘Old Red Sandstone' and Early Carboniferous in Scotland

A Tournaisian (earliest Carboniferous) conglomerate-preserved non-marine faunal assemblage and its environmental and sedimentological context

A terrestrial Devonian-Carboniferous boundary section in East Greenland

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